EOSS and Manzanola School launch edge of space balloon

Wednesday

Mar 20, 2013 at 5:00 PM

Saturday morning at 10 a.m., a weather balloon was launched from the Manzanola football field by the Edge of Space Scientists, a group of ham radio operators whose object is to promote science and education through high altitude balloons and amateur radio.

Bette McFarrenbmcfarren@ljtdmail.com

Saturday morning at 10 a.m., a weather balloon was launched from the Manzanola football field by the Edge of Space Scientists, a group of ham radio operators whose object is to promote science and education through high altitude balloons and amateur radio. They had the full help and cooperation of the Manzanola public schools and the rapt attention of the science students. The connection to Manzanola Schools is through Aubre Krengel, who is an English teacher there. Her father is Chris Krengel of Engelwood, who is a ham radio operator and a member of EOSS.

Manzanola science students in the classes of Alan Sheldon, sixth grade science teacher, and Terry Nickerson, junior high and high school science teacher, prepared payloads to go along on a weather balloon launched to the edge of space. The younger students prepared the experiment, while the high school physics students prepared the packaging so that the experiments would not freeze up at the edge of space.

The question was, "Will osmosis be speeded up by the lack of air pressure at higher altitudes?" The experiment consisted of four balloons filled with distilled water, suspended in a small tank of distilled water. One would have the addition of salt, another of sugar, another of protein, and the fourth of nothing, just water. The balloons were weighed just before the launch and hopefully would be weighed when the experiment landed intact. The experiment was replicated by a second tank identical to the first which was kept at the Manzanola school.

The high school students used squeezable hand warmers and insulation to protect the experiment.

The balloon was equipped with three global positioning system tracking devices and radios. The tracking was monitored in the Manzanola gym by Krengel and helpers, who manned the computers which received signals from the balloon. In addition, some of the EOSS people followed the balloon in vehicles, helped by their radios as well as eyesight (the balloon gets pretty small, then invisible to the naked eye). Latest word is that the balloon went down near Bristol, Colo., an unincorporated town about 15 miles from the Kansas border on Colorado State Highway 196.

The Manzanola School is now on spring break, so this story is to be continued when everybody gets back.